BY BOB HOLT

NEWJERSEYNEWSROOM.COM

If you like a good fish story, fishermen in Pakistan had a whopper to tell friends yesterday.

A 40-foot giant whale shark weighing between six and seven tons washed ashore at Karachi Harbor in Pakistan on Tuesday.

The Express Tribune reported that it took more than four hours and two cranes for the Karachi Fish Harbour Authority to lift the giant whale shark out of the water. Authorities first tried a small crane but its pulley wires broke, and they called in a 35-ton model.

CBS News reported that the owner of a nearby fishery said the whale shark was found unconscious about 150 kilometers from shore 10 days ago.

The man who owns the boat that towed the fish to shore, Muhammad Yousuf said, “It was dead when my men found it,” according to News Pakistan.

The cause of its death is unknown.

Yousuf put the whale shark up for auction, and according to Emirates 24/7, it sold for $18,758. Bengali fishermen were more than willing to take credit for the huge catch, one man saying “Only the Bengalis could catch such a large fish.”

The whale shark is considered an endangered species. Around 30 have been found dead in Pakistani waters during the past seven years, according to biologists. According to National Geographic, whale sharks average from 18 to 32.8 feet in size, and 20.6 tons in weight. They say whale sharks are docile and sometimes allow swimmers to ride them.